Death For Breakfast
by pop off valve
Summary: Amelia Bones was only expecting to question some teenagers, not face down an angry Double O.


**Notes**: Immediately after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, obviously the HP canon timeline is brought forward about twenty years to match with Craig!Bond timeline, title is from _On Her Majesty's Secret Service_

* * *

Amelia Bones was pissed. Six children and twelve Death Eaters had broken into the Ministry of Magic and fought before reinforcements had arrived, including He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself in the flesh. Potter was the only child not injured in the incident in the Department of Mysteries and Dumbledore had immediately absconded with the boy. The other children had been taken to St Mungo's to treat their injuries and their families notified. She was there to question the other children before Albus snatched them back to Hogwarts as well. She wouldn't have much time.

The first thing she noticed when she walked in to the ward was Molly Weasley fussing over her two youngest. The girl only had minor injuries, but the boy would be under the care of healers for most of the summer. Augusta Longbottom's grandson and the Lovegood girl also only had minor injuries and the three healed students would be released back to Hogwarts shortly. The Muggleborn girl had taken a potentially lethal curse and would be lucky if she was released before school was out.

Amelia froze. By the girl's bed were three people. Two were clearly Muggles, obviously concerned, uncomfortable and unhappy. The third wore expensive outer robes over an equally as expensive Muggle suit. He was not uncomfortable in a magical environment and outwardly showed no concern. Something about the man made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

When he turned towards her, she recognized him immediately and her breath caught in her throat.

Following the Grindelwald War, the continued activity of the Muggle Ministry of Defense intelligence divisions attracted magical attention. The Minister of Magic hadn't been concerned, seeing the Muggles beneath him, but the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the time had been very concerned. An agreement had been struck between DMLE and the Department of Mysteries to watch various areas, including the Special Operation Executive and its MI-6 successor, the Double O program. They maintained files on all the Double Os. Per protocol, as a senior official of the DMLE, Amelia knew all them by name and photo.

At the end of Hermione Granger's bed, stood Commander James Bond, RN, designation 007, the most experienced and the most dangerous of them all. In robes, looking as dapper as he did in a suit. The agent capable of conducting a one man war.

It was a nightmare scenario, a Double O with possible legitimate access to the Wizarding world, just as the second Voldemort war was restarting.

She wondered how much he already knew, how long he'd been investigating. Since the girl received her letter perhaps? Five years was plenty of time for an agent of his skill to develop contacts in even the darkest parts of the Wizarding world.

Five years was more than enough time for Bond to build a network of assets and discover the pressure points of their fragile society.

Even if he'd started after Cedric Diggory's death, he was a year ahead of her department and likely had already identified Death Eater activity.

Amelia could see it in her mind, how this would play out. Bond would burn through their world, coldly executing anyone in his way, destroying their government – their way of life – to protect his daughter. Nothing but destruction left behind in his wake. The proverbial sleeping dragon. Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus indeed.

And worse, whatever Bond knew, likely MI-6 probably knew too.

The entire situation was spiraling out of control.

Bond spotted her and walked purposefully down the ward. "Director Bones."

She didn't bother to play dumb. "Agent Bond."

His voice was controlled and glacial, just a hint at the underlying anger. "Great security your Ministry has. Six teenagers are able to just stroll into a secured department well after business hours."

She bristled at the unspoken accusation. "I'm sure the Death Eaters had something to do with that."

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smug smirk. "I'm glad to see you recognize some truth. Too bad it's a year late."

She struggled to look impassive while she internally winced. She'd clearly walked into a trap, with him knowing far more than she did. She wondered how much his daughter had told him and if he'd already spoken to Harry Potter. Or maybe he just had a subscription to the Quibbler. "I am still trying to ascertain the facts in this incident. I'm here to speak to the children involved."

A few of the parents, specifically Arthur Weasley, she intended to put into an interrogation room.

"I suggest you ascertain your facts quickly, Director, _without_ bothering my daughter. She needs her rest and you're expected at Buckingham Palace at 9 am."

"What?"

"The Prime Minister and the Queen have been informed and are demanding answers. You do remember that for all your independence, the Ministry of Magic is still a part of Her Majesty's government and thus answerable to the PM and the Crown? You will be briefing the PM, the Home Office, the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service, and the Ministry Of Defence. Fortunately for you, HMQ has public commitments this morning that she feels would cause undue attention should she cancel. Unfortunately for you, the Prince of Wales is on the Continent at the moment. The Duke of Cambridge's only commitments today were to his children, so he will be representing the Queen. I recommend not leaving out even a single detail. M has my reports and I assure you, they are quite thorough."

Again, her blood ran ice cold, her suspicions proven true. But it didn't stop her doubling down. She wasn't going to be bullied about how she did her job; not by Fudge, not by Muggles. "I don't much see the point. Without magic, there is little you can do."

The grin on his face might've been attractive if it hadn't resembled a very large cat playing with its prey. And she was definitely the prey.

"Do you know what the retention rate for Muggleborns is?"

The non-sequitur caught her off guard. "What does that have to with anything?"

"Everything."

"No, I don't know."

"The employment rate usually hovers between seven and nine percent. Marriage accounts for around three percent, mostly women. Add in those that marry and live within the Wizarding community but work in the Muggle world, a few stragglers and round up to cover natural variations into the numbers, it's around fifteen percent. It's been steady for over a century."

She hadn't known that. She had wondered on occasion what happened to some of the Muggleborns in her year, but the only one she could recall seeing with any regularity was the wife of one of the spell damage healers here at St Mungo's. There were only a couple Muggleborns in her department, mostly clerks, and hardly more in the rest of the Ministry.

He leaned closer and spoke quietly. "The question you should be asking yourself is, where did the other eighty-five percent go?"

She crossed her arms. "I assume back to the Muggle world."

"Not a lot of jobs going for Hogwarts qualifications, no matter how well they scored on their exams. Most of them end up in the military."

Military trained wizards? Worse, a magical Double O? Someone with even half of Bond's skill and a wand? Frightening.

"Should the Duke of Cambridge not like what he hears from you and your boss, Her Majesty has granted him the authority to declare an end to Home Rule for Wizards, in which case 3 Wands Battalion is prepared to take control of the Ministry."

She just put her head in her hand. If Fudge was in on that meeting, they might as well throw in the towel now. _She_ wasn't happy with what little she'd gotten out of him before coming to the hospital; these people would tear him top shreds. Publicly attacking a fifteen year old boy previously hailed as a hero, ignoring signs of possible terrorist activities, taking bribes from someone previously connected to a terrorist group, general corruption, and those rumors from Susan about what was going on at Hogwarts…

She lifted her head. She was a Bones and a Huffelpuff. She would face this with dignity, she decided, no matter how grim. After all, the Ministry and the Muggles were on the same side, right? They both were looking to put and end to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Hopefully she could get the Muggles to focus on that rather than Fudge's incompetence. She could certainly get Fudge to keep his damn mouth shut.

Bond seemed to be enjoying her discomfort. "I suggest you order your people to stand down and cooperate when the troops come in, otherwise it will get very nasty very quickly."

Few of the Muggleborns she knew had any love for the Ministry, even the ones that worked there. It had only gotten worse with Fudge as Minister. Military training and an grudge against an unready, peace-time Auror force? She wouldn't pretend that the bloodshed wouldn't all be on their side.

Amelia heard Mad-Eye Moody's unsteady gait, the heavy thump of his false leg, enter the ward behind her. She turned to face him. He nodded at her and eyed Bond.

"Bond."

"Moody."

The tone was casual, as if they'd met before.

She knew she had spies in her department, always had. Purebloods from old families, Dumbledore's "friends", Fudge's corrupt cronies. However, now she wondered how many were working for the Muggles.

As the most senior Auror during the war, Moody had been granted access to the Double O file, just as a precaution, with so many higherups being killed. He'd read it and suggested they do something similar. Crouch, head of the department at the time and who had campaigned for Aurors to use Unforgivables, had shot it down without any consideration. She'd personally given him updates when she'd received them, after she taken over the top spot.

Moody damn well knew who Bond was.

She glared at him. He looked back at her evenly, with no contrition. "Yes?" she asked icily.

"Fudge is looking for you. Got some message and now has a bug up his butt about somethin'."

"I think I already know what that is. Thank you."

Moody's magical eye drifted over to Bond. "I bet you do." He snickered, way too amused for the situation. "This war's about to get interesting."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

He pointed to the side of the ward opposite the children. "That bed over there. Damned healers are insisting, but it'll be a hot and sunny day in the Highlands before a bastard like Anton Dolohov gets the better of me."

She heard Bond shift behind her and take a hissed breath. "Dolohov, that's wizard who cursed Hermione?"

"Aye. And he'll be on his way back to Azkaban today."

That was information Bond didn't need to know. She couldn't believe Moody just gave it to him right in front of her.

"I see."

With those two sharp, crisp words, she knew in her heart Dolohov would be dead before ever reaching the prison.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be getting back to my daughter now. Moody. Director, don't forget your meeting."

Bond turned on his heel and walked back to the other end of the ward, to Hermione Granger's beside.

Amelia focused back on Moody. "Why did you tell him that? He's going to kill him, you do know that?"

Moody was unmoved. "He's got a damn right to, as far as I'm concerned. It's only by chance that girl's not dead and you should be damn grateful I threw Dolohov to him. He's out for blood and he's been on that damn mobile telephone thing waking up half of London, ever since the kids were discovered missing. Had his girl died, 'bout the only thing left standing by the end of the day would be Hogwarts. Frightfully efficient when he's got his mind set, that one.

"Just be thankful that it's not your head he wants on a pike right now and let him have all the Death Eater scum he wants. The less of them we have to face, the better."

"I don't like it."

Moody moved over to the bed and laid down carefully, clearly feeling his injuries more than he was willing to admit. "Amelia, you don't have to like it. Bond's not the enemy, he's a damn good asset. He's very good at what he does. If anyone has a shot at taking the Dark Lord down, it's him. But you keep your eyes on the big picture. Throw Fudge to the wolves and save what you can."

She sat on the edge of the bed. "And if the rumors are true? That there's a prophecy about the boy?"

"Bond'll deliver the bastard hogtied for Harry to finish off. To keep his girl out of it, if for no other reason."

"How long have you been in contact with him?"

"Only since last summer, when he found out the girl had gone to stay with the Weasleys. Some sort of trouble with her mother, although that's not the story she tells. Almost as stubborn as her old man."

"Does Albus know?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm thinking no."

"Damn straight. Albus has us twiddling our thumbs and collecting information we won't use for some purpose only he can see. Much rather give that information to somebody who will use it." Moody leaned up on an elbow. "Albus will be here in about thirty minutes for the kids. Don't bother with the Weasley boy. Whatever those brains the Unspeakables are playing with down there are, they scrambled his head good. The other three should be able to answer your questions. Taking them to another room might buy you enough time once Albus gets here."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and Amelia? You want to talk to Harry, wait until school is out and talk to Bond, not Albus. Albus will never let you near him, but Bond can have him pulled in on the Muggle side and back at his relatives long before Albus ever knew about it."

She grinned slowly. Getting a rare one over on Albus Dumbledore would be worth seeing the man again. "I'll keep that in mind." She left, intending to take the three teens with minor injuries to a room on another floor for questioning before she ran out of time.


End file.
